They’re comfy. They last for years and years. They don’t require dry cleaning or any other kind of special treatment. They’re perfect for a number of occasions, from a trip to the grocery store to a walk in the park to an evening at the pub, to a number of even semi-formal social occasions. They’re incredibly versatile, meaning they look good with pretty much everything, from t-shirts to smart blazers. In fact, you can’t imagine life without them at all.
What are we talking about? Jeans, of course! This iconic garment is more than deserving of its own holiday, as is Mr. Levi Strauss, a man without whom jeans as we know them might not exist at all.
History of Levi Strauss Day
Levi Strauss was a German-American businessman born in Bavaria on February 26th, 1829, who came to the United States with his family in the mid-1800s when he was 18 years old. Strauss began as a dry goods wholesaler in San Francisco, California, where he sold various items such as clothing, bedding, bags, and handkerchiefs to settlers, many of whom had arrived in California to take part in the gold rush.
Needless to say, the hard physical labor required of the miners of the day and those building new railroads made it difficult for them to find clothing that would last for more than a few months without falling apart at the seams. One day in 1870, one of Strauss’ clients, a tailor named Jacob W. Davis, was approached by a woman who needed a pair of solid working pants for her husband, a woodcutter. Her request prompted Davis to make a pair of pants from the denim he’d bought at Strauss’ shop that he then strengthened with copper rivets to reinforce the stitching. Word of the new article of clothing and its endurance spread fast, and soon Davis could not keep up with the demand for his invention, nor did he have the resources to open a more extensive tailor shop or obtain a patent.
Falling further and further behind and afraid someone else would steal his idea, Davis decided to ask for Strauss’ financial backing in the filing of a patent application. Strauss agreed, the patent was issued, the two men became business partners, and Levi Strauss & Co was born.
